Fly Away Baby

Torchy (Glenda Farrell) and her boyfriend, Steve (Barton MacLane) are once again preparing to get married. And, once again, a murder occurs and derails their plans. This is a perennial theme in this series as well as in the Falcon and Bulldog Drummond.

The police, naturally, arrest the wrong man and Torchy thinks that the real killer is going on a worldwide race--and she intends to chase him and prove his guilt. However, there are a lot of twists and turns and she isn't exactly right--but of course she saves the day by the end of the film. All of this is very, very ordinary...EXCEPT the location of the final portion of the film. During this worldwide jaunt, the trail leads to Germany...yes, NAZI Germany! And, with the help of the German police, the mystery is solved...ABOARD THE HINDENBURG!!!! For an ex-history teacher like me, it made the film worth seeing--even if the plot really is a bit pedestrian.

Jeweler Milton Deveraux is murdered during a break in of his store. Lt. Steve MacBride is perplexed, but girlfriend Torchy Blane suspects Lucien Croy, reporter for the rival Star Telegram (who is only on the paper because his father, owner and publisher, wants him to earn a living ) because Croy has amassed large gambling debts, but Croy is alibied by Guy Allister (Deveraux's partner) and Ila Sayre (nightclub singer and Croy's girlfriend). Torchy still suspects Croy of being part of the jewel heist, so thanks to her editor and publisher, accompanies him on a promotional race-around-the-world flight, also joined by Hughie Sprague (reporter for the Daily Journal) and former police traffic driver, Gahagan, who is now a private detective watching Sprague for some reason. Ila later confesses to MacBride that Croy's alibi was not what it seemed, and MacBride races to Frankfurt to arrest Croy for the murder of Deveraux and the jewel theft, but is it as simple as all that? Excellent entry in the Torchy Blane series with plenty of mystery that left this viewer curious to the end, with plenty of twists and turns. The performances of Farrell and MacLane are the same fun as the last picture (also picking up where the last film left off with Torchy trying to get MacBride to the altar) and the comic relief between Kennedy (Gahagan) and O'Connell (Sprague) was played down to the point where it was enjoyable. Rating, based on B mysteries, 8.

A man is murdered in his apartment and thousands of dollars worth of diamonds are stolen. There is little evidence to trace the killer with, although Torchy Blane (Glenda Farrell) does manage to find the murder weapon. She is convinced that Lucien Croy (Gordon Oliver) had something to do with it, although Lt. McBride (Barton MacLane) is not so sure. Croy seems to have an airtight alibi. On top of the investigation, Croy is going on a trip round the world as a publicity stunt for his newspaper. Torchy decides that tagging along is the perfect way to track him in spite of McBride's wishes.

A fun movie throughout, this second of the Torchy Blane films is entertaining but unimportant. There is a formula to these movies. Man is murdered, Torchy and McBride team up to solve it, it is solved, they announce their impending marriage. It isn't the story that makes these films rewatchable; it is the vibrant personality of Farrell. A beauty with brains, she is incredibly under-appreciated.

Back in Jules Verne's steam-powered 19th Century, a trip around the World in only 80 days was considered astounding. In 1924 two U. S. Army aviators managed it in a new world record of 15 days, 11 hours. But that was nothing! In 1937 Warner Brothers second feature Fly-Away Baby, Glenda Farrell as irrepressible, smart-girl reporter Torchy Blane zips around the world in less than 30 minutes, using only the final half of the fast-moving, action-packed one-hour movie. All done with stock footage of the vehicles used and still pictures or footage of the various cities Torchy passes through, the mood for each locale set with appropriate regional music. All the while, a bold line meanders across a map of the Pacific Ocean, Asia, and Europe with the shadow of an airplane following along, motors humming. Lengthy scenes in Honolulu and Stuttgart are economically but artfully dispatched with small sets and back-projection. You may be so swept away by this Old Hollywood magic, and so absorbed into this engrossing, lightning-paced mystery pot-boiler, you will feel as if you've actually been to San Francisco, Hong Kong, and Suttgart with Torchy. And wow! what a window into time! You get to see file footage of a huge China Clipper taking off from a choppy sea, a gigantic Zepplin majestically gliding though the clouds, and a shot of the yet unfinished Golden Gate Bridge -- not to mention the usual swarms of boxy , spoke-wheel automobiles to be seen careening about the streets of 1930's motion pictures.

The Torchy Blane series was a chance for reliable Warner supporting players Glenda Farrell and Barton MacLane to strut their stuff in lead roles for a change. And they both shine! He's Torchy's tough cop boy friend Steve McBride, who needs her help to dope out the cases he's not sharp enough for. At least that's the way she tells it. Fly-Away Baby has the crime-solving duo after a diamond thief/murderer. The main suspect (Gordon Oliver), who is a columnist of a newspaper rival to Torchy's, is making an around-the-world promotional trip. Torchy and Steve suspect the crook will try to sell the hot diamonds somewhere along the way, so Torchy convinces her own newspaper publisher (Henry Davenport) to spring for her to follow along in what is promoted as an "around the world race." Hugh O'Connell provides sophisticated comedy relief as another reporter in the so-called race. A dandy with a rich wife, he's always bragging to his no-class cronies about spending her money and playing around on her. Little does he know his suspicious spouse has hired Steve's muddled, philosophical driver Gahagan (Tom Kennedy) to tag along and keep an eye on him. Steve joins Torchy in Stuttgart, where another murder takes place, then they take off aboard the Zepplin for the final leg of the journey and the exciting denouement. The airship scenes are very impressive for a B-movie.

Fly-Away Baby is not quite so good as the first in the Torchy series, Smart Blonde (1937) (see my review). But Smart Blonde was something special, really a tough act to follow, and Fly-Away Baby is still wonderful. Fast-talking, fast-moving, breezy, funny, engaging, exciting, beautifully filmed, and expertly acted, especially by the two charming leads -- a delight from beginning to end. All handsomely wrapped up in polished production values only a slice below what you would expect from one of Warner Brothers' top "A" pictures. Director Frank McDonald, a career B-picture specialist, and film editor Doug Gould pack so much action into sixty minutes of running time, it's like five gallons of slick, smooth Classic Hollywood entertainment concentrated into a half-pint movie!

It's never ceases to amaze how the big studios of Old Hollywood could turn out these minor masterpieces while bringing to bear only a fraction of their available resources.

Lieutenant Steve McBride (Barton McLane) stalks away from reporter and girlfriend Torchy Blane (Glenda Farrell). "You've wasted all of my time that you're gonna," he growls back at her. "From now on I handle this case alone."

–Of course, Steve should know better…it's clear by this point that Skipper (as she affectionately calls him) probably wouldn't get anywhere without Torchy's persistent "interference." Glenda Farrell is excellent in this second Torchy Blane series mystery. Perky, pesky, self-assured—Farrell is perfect as the adventurous newshound. McLane is good, too as the affectionate but gruff detective.

The case begins with a diamond robbery and the murder of a jeweler. The leading suspect, at least in Torchy's book, is a rival publisher's son, who is about to embark on a round the world trip as a publicity stunt. On the spur of the moment, Torchy decides to follow him—as does a third reporter, and they all talk their publishers into promoting it as a race.

Also on the trip is Sergeant Gahagan (Tom Kennedy), Steve's one-time driver who has actually quit the police force to set out on a secret new career. Gahagan must have made a hit in the first Torchy picture, because his role here—the lumbering cop with the heart of a Romantic—is much expanded.

Some neat stock footage of foreign locales, ships, airplanes and even a zeppelin add interest; the plot, while it covers a lot of geography, is admittedly pretty basic. In any case, it's the trio of main characters—especially Torchy—who are the main attraction in this very enjoyable comedy-mystery.